Latest Blogs

When you have a claim after a car or truck accident, there are two things you need to prove (or your Fort Myers accident lawyer needs to prove) in order to recover the financial compensation you deserve. The first is liability. To file a successful claim, you must be able to prove that someone else is liable for causing the crash.

The second is how much you are entitled to recover. No matter how much you deserve, the insurance companies are not going to calculate your losses for you. Instead, it is up to you (or your lawyer) to calculate your losses—and this requires comprehensive documentation of your present and long-term costs.

In this article, we are focusing on documenting the costs of a car or truck accident in Florida. When you have an accident claim, documenting your costs is one of the most important steps you can take to help your lawyer recover the financial compensation you deserve.

Understanding the Costs of a Serious Car or Truck Accident

Before we can talk about documenting your costs, we first need to cover what these costs are. Serious car and truck accidents can leave victims facing both financial and non-financial costs—and victims can recover all of these costs under Florida law (as long as they aren’t limited to filing a “no-fault” claim under their PIP policy).

So, what costs can you seek to recover after a car or truck accident in Florida? While individual circumstances vary, common financial costs include:

• Medical bills
• Costs for prescriptions and medical supplies
• Costs for in-home care, cleaning, landscaping, and other necessary services
• Loss of wages, salary, or other income
• Loss of benefits

Common non-financial costs include:

• Pain and suffering
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Emotional trauma
• Loss of companionship, consortium, services, society, and support
• Loss of enjoyment of life

When you have a claim after a serious car or truck accident, you are entitled to proper compensation not only for the costs you have incurred through the date of your claim but also for the costs you will incur in the future. These future costs will far exceed accident victims’ short-term costs in many cases. If you will need ongoing medical care or therapy, if you will be unable to work, or if you will continue to experience the non-financial impacts of the accident, it will be especially important to ensure that you work with an experienced Fort Myers accident lawyer who can help you seek the full compensation to which you are legally entitled.

When it comes to seeking just compensation for your future losses, simply claiming that you will suffer these losses is not enough. You will need proof to convince the insurance companies to pay (or to convince a judge or jury to render a verdict in your favor, if necessary). As we discuss below, there are well-established methods for calculating and documenting the past and future costs of a serious car or truck accident, and by working closely with an experienced Fort Myers accident lawyer, you can put yourself in the best position possible to secure just compensation through an out-of-court settlement.

Documenting the Financial Costs of a Car or Truck Accident

We will cover documenting your financial costs first. Documenting your financial costs is relatively straightforward (compared to documenting your non-financial costs), though there are still several challenges involved. This is particularly true when it comes to documenting the future out-of-pocket costs of your accident-related injuries.

1. Documenting Your Out-of-Pocket Costs as You Incur Them

One of the easiest steps involved in documenting the financial costs of a serious car or truck accident is collecting as many records as possible. Any time you receive an email or piece of paper that is related to your accident, you should place it in a folder to share with your Fort Myers accident lawyer. For example, you will want to start collecting records such as:

• Medical records (including scans, test results, and prescriptions)
• Medical bills and receipts
• Bills and receipts for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other similar types of services
• Receipts for your medications, medical supplies, and other necessary items
• Pay stubs and any other documents you receive from your employer

The more documentation you can keep, the better. While your lawyer will be able to obtain records from your providers and your employer if necessary, having these records available will streamline the process of evaluating your claim and calculating your potential recovery. Once you get in the habit, this will be easy, and it will only take a few seconds out of your day.

It is important to keep in mind that these are just examples. Serious car and truck accidents can leave victims facing many types of financial costs, and your costs will be unique to you. If you incur any cost that you would not have had to incur if the accident had not happened, you should keep the relevant documentation so that your lawyer can determine if it should be included in your claim.

2. Documenting the Future Financial Costs of Your Accident

Documenting the future financial costs of your accident is more challenging. Since you have not yet incurred these costs, you cannot simply make a list and add them up. Instead, you need to gain a clear understanding of your future medical needs and how these will impact both your ability to work and your ability to do tasks at home.

With this in mind, your medical and employment records are key forms of documentation for proving the future financial costs of your accident-related injuries. If you know what types of treatment and therapy you are likely to need in the future, then you (or your lawyer) can accurately estimate the amount of money you will need to cover these eventual expenses. Likewise, if you can realistically assess how long you will be out of work (or forced to work in a lower-paying position), you can then use your current employment records to forecast your future loss of income and benefits.

In short, to calculate your future financial costs after a serious car or truck accident, you will need:

• Your medical records detailing your diagnosis and prognosis
• An assessment of your future medical needs
• An estimate of the total cost of your future medical needs
• Employment records showing your compensation history and your current income and benefits
• An estimate of how long you will be out of work and how much you would have earned during this period (including any raises you would have received)

While this covers the basics, calculating the amount you are entitled to receive for your future financial costs gets much more complicated. For example, if your future losses total $250,000, this does not necessarily mean that you are entitled to $250,000 in damages. Instead, this amount will be “discounted” to its “present value,” with the assumption that you will earn interest to make up the difference over time. As a result, it is essential to work with an experienced Fort Myers accident lawyer who can help accurately calculate the amount you are entitled to recover and ensure that the insurance companies do not get away with paying less than you deserve.

Documenting the Non-Financial Costs of a Car or Truck Accident

Documenting the non-financial costs of a serious car or truck accident is a very different process. Instead of collecting records that you receive from your healthcare providers and your employer, you will instead be creating documentation that your Fort Myers accident lawyer can use to prove how your injuries have negatively impacted (and will continue to negatively impact) your daily life.

1. Documenting the Daily Effects of Your Accident-Related Injuries and Trauma

When you are struggling to cope with the effects of life-altering injuries, all of your struggles are relevant to your claim for just compensation. With this in mind, you will want to try to document things like:

• Your pain levels at various points throughout the day
• Any time your injuries or pain prevent you from doing something (i.e., lifting a load of heavy laundry, mowing the lawn, going to the gym, or going to the store)
• Any time you feel anxious, depressed, or stressed about the accident
• Family gatherings and social events that you miss due to your injuries, pain or emotional condition
• Other activities and interactions that you are forced to miss as a result of the accident

How can you document these (and other) non-financial losses? There are several options, but one of the easiest is to keep a daily log, or “pain journal.” Each day, take a few minutes to write down (or record) your pain levels and all of the various other ways that your injuries have interfered with your ability to enjoy life and spend meaningful time with your friends and family.

With that said, your medical records play an important role here as well. If your medical records show that you have been diagnosed with (and are undergoing treatment for) disabling physical injuries, this will help to substantiate your pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and other non-financial losses. Likewise, if you are seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist, this will also help with proving that the non-financial effects of your injuries are very, very real. Again, the more documentation you have, the better—and if you think a record might be relevant to your claim, you should keep it to share with your Fort Myers accident lawyer.

Along with the documentation you generate to prove your non-financial costs, your lawyer may generate various forms of proof as well. For example, one method that can be highly effective is to create a video that demonstrates how your life has changed since the accident. As your case progresses, your lawyer will determine what types of additional evidence may be beneficial, and then your lawyer will work to prepare this evidence to submit to the insurance companies or present in court if necessary.  

2. Documenting Your Future Non-Financial Losses

 Just like your financial losses, you are entitled to compensation for your future non-financial losses after a serious car or truck accident in Florida. Here, too, documenting your future losses is more complicated, and, as a result, it is a task that is best left to an experienced Fort Myers accident lawyer.

Similar to calculating future financial costs, calculating future non-financial costs starts with gaining a thorough understanding of your medical diagnosis. This is because (i) the physical and emotional effects of the accident play a direct role in understanding its non-financial consequences, and (ii) the length of time that you will suffer the non-financial consequences of the accident is a key factor in determining how much you are entitled to recover.

The records you keep to document your non-financial costs on a day-to-day basis will be important for calculating your future losses as well. You will likely experience similar consequences throughout the recovery process—whether this process takes months, years, or the rest of your life. So, by documenting the accident’s effects today, you can help your lawyer prove its likely effects in the future, and this will help ensure that you are seeking the maximum financial compensation that is available to you.

In summary, as you work to move on from your car or truck accident, if you keep copies of your records, record the daily effects of the accident, and document the recovery process, these three steps will help your lawyer prove how much you are entitled to recover. For personalized legal advice and an assessment of your claim, contact Spivey Law Firm in Fort Myers today.

Get Help from an Experienced Fort Myers Accident Lawyer for Free

Are you coping with the effects of a serious car or truck accident in Florida? If so, Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A. can help you protect your legal rights. To learn more in a free, no-obligation consultation, call Fort Myers accident lawyer Randall L. Spivey at 888-477-4839 or contact us online at Spiveylaw.com today.